Beneath the Silvery Moon
by Bone Fox
Summary: Just a really short story that lays a background out for two of my World of Warcraft characters a tauren druid and a troll priest.


"I'm really not cut out for this." The tall blue troll muttered to himself as he tromped through the powder snow in the general direction his companion had taken earlier that day. He pulled his cloak tighter about his body as the wind tried to whip it behind him. He continued talking to himself, as he pressed onward.

"I should be someplace warm like Grom'gol…on the beach…with a Tequila Sunrise in my hand but no. I'm in Winterspring instead because _someone_," here the troll stopped in the clearing and yelled to the skies

"HUYANA!" The name echoed back at him as he continued walking among snow-laden trees. "Has to do a super secret special druid quest. Oh good, tracks!" The troll knelt to examine the partially covered hoof prints briefly before following the meandering path into the woods. His long ears twitched trying to pick up any sounds around him. He found the muffled silence of the snow-covered lands unsettling, especially since he knew them to be inhabited by fierce creatures. He quickened his pace.

"At least she should be easy to find," He said to himself. "After all, it's hard to lose an eight foot tall cow." His companion, a tauren druid, had been gone since before sunrise. He had found the note near his bunk back at the inn in Everlook.

"_Gone on a vision quest. Should be back by dark_. – H"

He had whiled away the day in the small town; he finished reading his book, traded with some of the goblins, wrote a letter to some guild mates, chatted with travelers in the Inn. All the while he kept an eye on the main gate waiting for the familiar towering figure of his friend to come back.

"I shouldn't worry, she's a big girl. She knows how to heal and fight." He thought to himself as the sun began its descent from its zenith. "She's a lot stronger than I am." But still, he worried about her all the same. An hour or two before dark he bundled himself up in two of his robes, pulled his warm cloak around his body and set out to look for her.

Now the sun was nearly below the horizon and he was still following her hoof prints into the wild lands. The troll pulled out his wand, which gave off a white light to help him see the trail.

"Off course, knowing my luck, this will attract every wandering beast within three miles." He smirked. Fortunately he didn't have far to go. Another clearing appeared ahead of him and sitting quietly on a large rock in the very center was the druid. The troll circled around the rock until he was facing her. She was sitting cross-legged on the rock, staring straight over his head at the sky. Before her she had placed several faintly glowing moonstones in a design. Her gloved hands rested lightly on her knees and her entire body was covered with a light dusting of powdered snow. The troll looked up in the same direction as she was but only saw the full moon hanging silver against the odd purple hued sky. He looked back at Huyana and waved at her.

"Heya Huya, what're you doing?" He asked her. The druid blinked and shook her head before looking down at the troll. She paused as if remembering who he was before speaking.

"Oh, Hi Yahto. What're you doing out here?" She asked him.

"I just asked you that." The Troll said impatiently.

"Oh, sorry." She said. She shuffled over on the rock and patted the place next to her. "Come sit with me. I've just been out here thinking." Yahto obliged, scrambling up the icy rock to sit near the druid without disturbing her stone circle. He settled close to her, the rock still warm from her body heat.

"You sound disappointed." He said as he pulled her warm cloak around himself.

"Well, yeah." She replied. "I've been sitting out here, freezing my tail off and I haven't had a vision yet. A lot of thoughts keep running through my head but nothing is making sense. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but it's aggravating. That and my head's been hurting again." She rubbed her horns idly. "How was your day?"

"Boring." Yahto put his hand on Huyana's forehead and began casting a minor healing spell. He saw her smile as the white glow spread over her features. "What were you thinking about if I may ask?"

"Well I started like I always do," She began. "With my surroundings, then I reached out to touch the creatures around me and I kept going further and further but there were some creatures I couldn't touch. It was odd but then my thoughts kept turning back to other things and I felt like I couldn't really concentrate." She was quiet for a moment and Yahto waited for her. Huyana was a bit of a "pauser" meaning that she liked to collect her thoughts before speaking, a trait that Yahto liked.

"I kept thinking about the past and in turn about you."

"I don't like where this is going," Yahto said. "Are you going to reveal that you have a secret crush on me?" Huyana laughed out loud.

"Nah, nothing like that Y, you really aren't my type anyway." She chuckled.

"Ok good I was worried there…hey! What's wrong with me?" He asked her pretending to be serious.

"Not enough meat on your bones." She replied. "And that's besides the point."

"Ok, seriously now, what was the point?" He asked her.

"Well, just how I met you and some of the things we've been through." She said.

"You mean how you rescued me and how you've been helping me?" He corrected her. She blushed.

"I was just one person in that rescue party you know." She said without looking at him. Her eyes were on the moon again. "But anyway, I can't help but wondering if this has all been by chance or if there's something else at play here."

"What do you mean?" He asked her. "Like is everything planned you mean?"

"Well not exactly planned but more like, events happen for a reason and in turn trigger other events. And there are always multiple outcomes. One thing I "heard" when I reached out was a frost saber grabbing a rabbit. I heard it's squeal and the teeth scrape against the bones. The rabbit wasn't careful and in a split second it was dead. But then the frost saber carried the carcass home to feed her young ones. I was sad for the rabbit but I would also have been sad if the frost saber cubs had starved and died. Death is a part of life and I accept that. I've accepted it since I first learned about the nature of death, it is no stranger to me."

"But I find myself thinking about death a lot. I've pulled many back from the dark gates with my healing abilities but with the same hands I kill either for need of food or in defense. I disturb the natural order of life and death." She stared hard at the moon, which was slowly becoming smaller among the sea of stars in the sky.

"Which keeps bringing me back to me and you. When I found you in that…that place you were so close to death. And you didn't want to come back. But I felt driven to keep trying to bring you back. I'm not a healing druid, but I tried as hard as I could with spells and potions. And the whole time, deep down I didn't know if what I was doing was right. Death is a natural part of this world and you seemed to be welcoming it. But a part of you seemed to glimmer and I would push those feelings aside and keep healing. And then suddenly, despite what other better healers told me you began to respond. Slowly you came back and I was able to learn of what happened to you and become your friend. And that's what I keep thinking about."

"It wasn't supposed to happen, but it did."

"And now here we are." Yahto whispered.

"Exactly, here we are. But why am I here?" Huyana said. "Yahto, I'm an odd druid. Most of my peers are either healers or have taken the feral aspects and become mighty warriors. I have tried both of these aspects as I learned my class in the Moonglade but none of them fit me though I know in my heart that I am a druid. I just don't know what my purpose is. I'm not talented enough in dealing death and I am not gifted enough in restoring life. Where do I belong? I guess that's why the Arch Druids sent me out here with these moonstones but I don't know to what purpose."

"I'm sorry." Yahto told her.

"What for? It's not your fault, it's nobody's fault." She replied.

"No, that's not what I mean, I just don't like seeing you sad." He told her. "But I want you to know that with or without vision or purpose or whatever, you'll always be my hero." He winked at her. "How's the head doing?"

"A little better thanks." She looked up again. "Look at all those stars Yahto, it's beautiful out here."

"Yeah, I know." He said looking skyward. "And to think, I wouldn't be out here freezing my ass off under this lovely sky if you hadn't broken me out of bondage." The two friends took in the night sky for a moment before Yahto's ears twitched.

"Hey, do you hear that?" He asked Huyana but she was silent, still staring up at the moon. The troll looked around nervously. It was dark among the trees but he could still see forms moving in the gloom. "Huyana…?" He tapped her shoulder, breaking her out of her stupor. She put her head in her hands, rubbing at her temples.

"Head hurts." She muttered.

"Huyana, something's there." He told her, staring wide eyed into the trees. There were more figures in the forest now, he could see glowing eyes coming towards them. Huyana looked up and peered into the forest.

"Who are you?" She said speaking in Taurhe. The figures moved into the clearings as if to grant her request.

"Wildkin!" Yahto gasped. The huge beasts were appearing all around the clearing as they advanced on the pair. Huyana stood on the rock next to him and threw off her cloak. She pulled a heavy staff from her back and adopted a fighting stance. Yahto looked up at her.

"Stay back." She said. Huyana leapt from the rock and landed gently on the ground. Small puffs of snow surrounded her hooves as she stood waiting on the wildkin. They were bigger and heavier than she was but she did not seem to notice as she began laying into them with her staff. Bursts of nature and arcane energy flew from her finger tips as she cast her spells upon them driving most of the wildkin back and slaying those that wouldn't get out of the way. But as she pushed them back new ones surged forward to take their places and attacked her with their beaks, claws and antlers. Yahto cast healing spells upon Huyana, mending her wounds and staunching her blood but managed to attract the attention of the wildkin and they soon set upon him as well. He pulled the wand from his belt and began firing at them but it did little to fend them off.

"Huya, I need help, they're on me!" He called to the druid. Without even looking at him she neatly jumped back next to him and dealt several wildkin with her moonfire and wrath spells. They backed off again but only for a moment before surging in. Yahto pressed his back against Huyana's, cursing himself for not thinking to bring his own staff as he struggled to keep healing. He could feel her panting heavily, tiring from having to fight so many.

Huyana herself could only feel the pounding headache within her skull. Even as she cast spells and calculated her blows she couldn't keep her previous thoughts from running through her head. _Life! Death! Killing! Healing!_ And amongst it all Yahto who she was trying to protect with all of her being at this very moment. _Death is natural, the Earth Mother wills it!_ A heavy paw raked red slashes across her face and she fell back.

"No, Huya!" The troll turned awkwardly and tried to push her back up but he was pulled away by the wildkin as they swarmed around Huyana, each one tugging and clawing at her. Blood pounded in her head as the world began to go foggy. But she still managed to faintly hear her friend yell to her.

"Huyana come back!"

Her eyes snapped open and she let out a horrible scream. The wildkin seemed to drop her in surprise as they slowly backed away from her body. Yahto, still held in the grasp of a wildkin struggled to break free and reach Huyana. She was still screaming as she clutched her head and rolled in the snow spattering blood on the white ground. In her head the thoughts had become a blur, she could hear voices whispering to her from mighty trees to tiny insects and then suddenly, it all stopped. Her eyes snapped open and the first thing she saw was the moon.

It all made sense to her now. There was consciousness in everything and all things. All living things were connected to each other. And her purpose was not to be a druid of the claw or a gentle healer. Her purpose was to keep order as an attendant to both life and death.

"Balance." She breathed in a hoarse whisper. Yahto had managed to wrench himself away from the wildkin and run to his friend's side just as she began to sit up. But something was different about her. She stumbled against the rock and he saw that she was growing size. Her body ripped out of her leather armor and the fur that covered her body was growing longer. Blue light caught the troll's eye and he noticed for the first time that the circle of moonstones was pulsing.

"_What's going on?"_ He thought to himself.

"Huyana?" He whispered. She looked at him and he jumped in surprise when he saw that her eyes had changed from their normal green color to a bright, glowing white. She was still breathing heavily and changing. The broken armor dropped from her huge body as she turned to fully face the troll. Her fur had become a mix of hair and feathers and her face had changed to a razor sharp beak. She flexed her new long claws before looking into the face of her companion.

"I'm…Moonkin…now." She spoke in a halting growl.

Yahto was shocked speechless. He had seen Huyana shape shift before but never like this. Her other shifts, the bear, cat and sea lion had a certain gentle art to them. Her armor blended into her body and she performed them swiftly and calmly. This was violent and raw. The aura she radiated now was like an electrical charge, he felt himself ready to fight though he was exhausted.

"Protect you." She told him as she pushed him back onto the rock with a heavy paw. She then turned to address the crowd of wildkin who were re-approaching her. She spoke to them in growls and roars and they growled back at her. Yahto didn't know what was transpiring but the wildkin seemed to be working into a frenzy again. Suddenly Huyana put her paws into the air and began chanting. The wildkin stopped their advancement on the pair and looked to the sky puzzled as the moon was hidden by an onslaught of thick black clouds. Yahto could smell ozone in the air and his hair prickled with energy. Thinking quickly he ducked his head under his arms and cast a protective holy shield over the both of them just as the first lightening bolts began to strike the wildkin. The wildkin panicked and began to retreat into the forest. Before the storm ended, all of them had disappeared, those that were lucky enough not to be killed.

Only then did Huyana's paws drop as she collapsed on the ground. Yahto looked down from his position on the rock. The druid was slowly returning to her normal body shape and lay naked among what was left of her armor.

"Oh Gods, Huyana." He said as he slid down the rock and knelt at her side. Her eyes were partially open and green again. He gently lifted her head onto his lap and began casting a healing spell with the last of his spiritual energy.

"'M Sorry." She whispered to him. "Didn't mean to scare you."

"I know." He replied. "Please don't be sorry."

"Wanted to protect you." She said, the healing spell was taking effect and the slashes on her body were mending.

"I know." He told her. She began murmuring a druid healing spell but he stopped her. "Rest easy, I'll heal you."

"You sure?" She asked him.

"Yeah," He replied. "I'm sure. Let's get you back to town." He said as he helped his friend up. She propped herself against the rock and allowed him to wrap her cloak around her body. He then draped one of her arms around his shoulder and she leaned heavily on him as they walked slowly back to Everlook.


End file.
